>> Monday, February 18, 2013

We ran out of tomato puree and all other canned tomato products last week. But Pizza Thursday had to go on! Instead of heading to the store, I thought I'd venture around the kitchen and find a suitable replacement.

And now I don't know if I'll use tomatoes for a while because this is way too good!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH PIZZA SAUCE
enough for two large homemade pizzas -- or even pasta

What you'll need . . .

16 ounces butternut squash puree (ours was frozen from the fall)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (a dry blend is what I used)

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup white wine ($4 Pinot Grigio, baby!)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

NOTE:

You can feel free to use nutritional yeast in place of Parmesan. For the wine, you can just use water, but I'd suggest playing around with vinegars, etc. because it adds great flavor to this recipe. Most of the alcohol cooks off anyway!

Method . . .

Thaw the puree if you are using frozen.

In the meantime, pour the olive oil into a medium pot over medium-high heat and saute the garlic for a few minutes. Until fragrant.

Then add in the puree and cook for a few minutes more, stirring constantly.

Continue by adding the water and white wine. Let it incorporate fully in before adding the Parmesan cheese.

Season with the Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste and cook for about 10 more minutes to let the flavors mingle, fall in love, if you will.

Add more liquid depending on how you'd like the texture. We had our spread rather thick.

Store for up to a week in the fridge or freeze.

// To use:

Mix up your favorite pizza dough recipe + let it rise -- we actually made the Pumpkin Garlic Knots but replaced the canned pumpkin with homemade applesauce for a sweeter crust.

We
always bake our pizza at 425 degrees F with a pizza stone preheating
first. Then we spread the plain crust onto the stone and bake one side
for 4 to 5 minutes, flip over, and then add the sauce + toppings.

A
mix of mozzarella and cheddar 50/50 worked well with the flavors in the
sauce and crust. But feel free to experiment or even go dairy-free with
lots of roasted veggies and avocado.

Bake until cheese is browned and bubbly. 12 to 15 minutes.

Have you made pizza without tomato sauce? I love white pizza best, actually. Pesto pizza, too! This was a nice change of pace. We'd love some more suggestions for our favorite dinner of the week!